Set in the near future, DEATHGARDEN™ revolves around a spectacular real blood sport that became the most popular entertainment on the planet. Players choose to team up as one of the five agile Runners or to embody the Hunter, a heavily armed competitor whose mission is to kill the Runners.

Early Access Game

Get instant access and start playing; get involved with this game as it develops.

Note: This Early Access game is not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you
should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“The purpose of Early Access is to ensure that the game experience is as fun as possible! We wish to establish a relationship of collaboration and trust with our players. Therefore, we will immediately begin gathering feedback and data, communicating our decisions and iterating on the game together. This way, once we launch the game, we will be confident in the quality of the content and service we provide.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Our current estimation is between 6 months and 1 year. We want to reach a certain level of quality and quantity before officially launching the game. Iteration and communication with our players will be key in this process.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“Over the coming months, we aim to deliver:
• New gameplay elements such as Perks, Powers and Weapons.
• New arena elements such as Garden Conditions (weathers).
We are investigating adding a new Garden (biome).
• New cosmetic progression elements to highlight and reward player dedication.
• Quality of life improvements such as game optimization and regular balancing efforts.
• Live service features such as in-game news and anti-disruptive behaviour measures.
• Regular hotfixes for maintenance and bug fixing.
• Surprises!

Note that this plan is subject to change, as we will be carefully reviewing player feedback and data before locking in our intentions and priorities.

Once we officially launch, we are planning on adding an in-game cosmetic store. All gameplay content and updates will always be accessible for free (and to all players). This ensures that we can keep supporting the game for the long-term, support our dedicated server costs and grow with our community.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“As of August 14th, our game consists of:

A WORLD, set in the near-future, revolving around a spectacular blood sport that is the most popular entertainment on the planet.
• Locker Room (central HUB)
• Character creation
• Ready Room (matchmaking physical lobby)
• Training area (tutorial)

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“While we intend on doing sales and free weekends in the future, we currently do not intend on changing the regular price tag. To thank our Early Access players, we will grant them exclusive ‘Groundbreaker’ Hunter and Runner Outfits. They will also get to keep their progression and the rewards associated with them when we launch the game.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“We believe gathering feedback is key to the success of our Early Access. We will obviously be regularly reading all discussion on our social media, forum, Discord as well as on Steam forums and the community-run Reddit.

We also believe that two-way communication is crucial. Therefore, we intend on regularly posting news on our website, social media platforms and forum as well as try to reply to questions.

We intend on sending monthly surveys to our players, as well as some more specific punctual surveys when we feel the need to cover a topic in-depth. We will be tracking data to identify player patterns and help balance the game to make it as fun and understandable as possible.”

Downloadable Content For This Game

November 13

As mentioned last week, Deathgarden is in a transition phase. We’re working towards making the game a more rewarding and meaningful experience. This patch is the first step in that direction

The changes we’re implementing today should empower the Hunter and provide Runners with a tenser, more heart-pounding experience.

We want to make sure that the Hunter is feared and that their capabilities cannot be disrupted.

SOFT WIN CONDITIONS

Design intent: to begin rewarding individual performances and to diminish Runners’ dependency on teamplay Once the Hunter has Killed 3 Runners, or the Runners have completed 2 of the 3 Objectives, the Exits open. However, this does not end the round

The team that opened the Exits has ‘won’ the Round and receives an XP bonus for their actions (‘Exit Opener Bonus’ for Runners, ‘Merciless Bonus’ for the Hunter) (viewed on the end of match Progression Tab)

Escaping as a Runner, when the Exits are open, provides an XP bonus (‘Escape Bonus’ viewed on the end-of-match Progression Tab

Design intent: we want Runners to fear the Hunter and to think twice before taking the Hunter head-on

Full stamina meter: (5) Evades -> (4) Evades

Full NPI meter: (5) shots -> (3) shots

Available Tier 3 Vambrace Powers (3)->(1)

All 3 are available until 1 of the 3 is purchased

New Perk: “NPI Hoarder” – Increases maximum NPI by 20%

GATHER & DELIVER OBJECTIVE TYPE

Design intent: Because we reduced the Runners&#39; ability to rapidly travel across the map, we decided to adjust the key delivery time to ensure that Runners may retain the possibility of delivering keys

Key delivery time (4.5)->(3.5)s

PREFERRED SERVER QUEUE

Design intent: to improve the (technical) quality of matches so that players across the world may enjoy better communication with the game’s servers.

We’re introducing a new server (EU, NA, & Asia) selection mechanic. When joining a match, each player passively and automatically votes for the server closest to them. The server will then be randomly selected according to the players’ passive votes.

E.g. 3 players are in NA and 3 players are in ASIA, there is a 50% (3/6) chance that the match connects to the NA server and a 50% (3/6) chance that the match connects to the ASIAN server

November 9

Next week, we'll be releasing a “transition” patch. While the changes we’re making might seem small at a first glance (or even surprising), they’re the first step towards Deathgarden’s new/realigned vision. In other words, we’re introducing some elements that are part of a bigger whole.

NEW VICTORY CONDITIONS

One of our main tasks moving forward is the redesigning and rethinking of Deathgarden’s victory conditions—what it means to ‘win’ a match. Our initial philosophy was that Runners should win as a team or lose as a team. Runners would be victorious if and only if they manage to complete all objectives and escape the Garden. On the other hand, the Hunter should win if and only if they wipe out enough Runners.

Our new philosophy, however, puts much more emphasis on the individual player. Runners are still part of a team, but they’re also individuals with personal goals and a will to survive.

When the November patch goes live, matches will no longer end immediately upon three Runner deaths or three Runner escapes. If the Hunter kills three Runners, the two remaining Runners will have the chance to escape the Garden with their lives and reap a small reward (more information on that in future articles). Similarly, if the Runner team successfully captures the objectives and three Runners escape, the Hunter will have the opportunity to get additional kills. Ultimately, we want to reduce the reliance on teamplay and better reward your individual actions.

We’re confident that these changes will change the feeling of Hunter and Runner defeats and, as you’ll discover in future articles, we believe that they’ll make for a much more meaningful and satisfying Deathgarden experience.

NEW TALLY SCREEN

In addition to altering the game’s victory conditions, we’re introducing the first iteration of the new tally screen. After each match, players will be able to measure their individual performance in the garden and will be given a score. Keep in mind that this tally screen will become more meaningful further down the line.

FEAR THE HUNTER

In next week’s patch, we’ll also implement some changes that will make Runners think twice before taking the Hunter head-on! You’ll find out more in next week’s patch notes.

NEW WEAPONS, PERKS, AND ATMOSPHERE

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been sharing with you concepts of our new art direction. This week, we even showed you a glimpse of our new in-game atmosphere. We’re happy to announce that we’ve implemented new ‘Weather Conditions’ in the November patch.

We’re also adding in a new Hunter weapon and new perks. Although these might change in future updates, we’ve decided to nonetheless release the content we’ve been working on since entering Early Access.

As mentioned above, this patch is a first step in the new direction. While the changes we’re implementing next week might seem small, they’re making way for our next patch, which should be much more significant.Stay tuned for more information in upcoming communications.

OVERVIEW

Digital Deluxe Edition

The Deluxe Edition includes the base Game, the Silent victory Hunter set (one male Armor, one female Armor, one Weapon skin, and one helmet), the Sentinel Runner set (one male Outfit, one female Outfit, one Vambrace skin and one Mask), the digital Art book, and the Digital soundtrack.

About This Game

ENTER A SPECTACULAR DYSTOPIAN BLOOD SPORT

Set in the near future, DEATHGARDEN™ revolves around a spectacular real blood sport that became the most popular entertainment on the planet. Players choose to team up as one of the five agile Runners or to embody the Hunter, a heavily armed competitor whose mission is to kill the Runners, preventing them from escaping The Garden.

Deathgarden pits individual cunning against strategy and teamwork–a lone but lethal Hunter against a team of dextrous Runners. Both sides must prove their skills and take control of the procedurally-generated Garden.

Asymmetric Confrontation

Power vs Agility: In this fast-paced action title, one powerful Hunter must hunt down five agile Runners, who seek to complete an objective and escape the Garden.

The Garden

A Procedurally Generated Garden: Each map is procedurally generated within the ‘Garden’, a nano-printed environment in which Runners willingly enter to compete against the powerful Hunter. Each match boasts a different ‘Garden’ layout, which forces both sides to adapt their strategy to the environment and creates exhilarating, memorable moments.

Long Term Support

Gameplay First: Deathgarden embraces the “no grind” or “no pay to win” philosophy. New gameplay content (Gardens, Weapons, Abilities & Perks, etc.) will be instantly available to all players upon the content’s release.

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

This Game may contain content not appropriate for all ages, or may not be appropriate for viewing at work: Frequent Violence or Gore, General Mature Content